Historic Bostwick Building Under Contract

The jaguar mural will be removed and saved

The historic Bostwick Building, which was in danger of being demolished, is under contract to be sold, its owners said.

“We have someone interested in restoring the building who understands the Bostwick family history with the building and is interested in preserving that in addition to the building itself,” Val Bostwick, senior sales associate with Johnson Enterprise Inc., told the Financial News & Daily Record.

The building, located at the corner of Ocean and Bay streets in Downtown Jacksonville, has become known as the “Jaguar building,” because of the mural of the jaguar visible in the structure's windows

The mural, painted by Jacksonville artist Jim Draper, will be removed from the building before the renovation and it will retained by Carter Bostwick, president of Guaranty Trust Investments.

The former Guaranty Trust and Savings bank was the first building permitted after the Great Fire in 1901.